


The Witching Hour

by BeccaWella



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Fluff and Smut, Multi, PWP, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-17 00:23:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11840133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeccaWella/pseuds/BeccaWella
Summary: Kaiden thinks he has finally found the one until he realises that a certain Taurian has his sights set on Shepard too.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction ever. I am hoping to improve. I will continue with the story based on the amount of interest it garners.

Kaiden eyed the alternating platforms of exotic dancers. Purgatory was well known for its skimpy dancers dress… holes cut in all the right places to expose flesh but to leave the important bits to the imagination. He watched one Asari female bend and scoop her backside back up and had to adjust his fatigues. His thoughts wandered to Liara T’Soni, an asari doctor who specialised in Prothean artifacts. She was gorgeous, she was a pale blue with the cutest damn smattering of freckles he had ever seen. She was plenty polite to him, seemingly over friendly but she had made it clear that she was interested in someone else… a Commander Shepard. He personally hadn’t heard of the guy but he envied the bastard.  
He swivelled to face the bartender and raised his hand, indicating another double whiskey. Ever since Aria had taken over the bar, (she had been kicked out of her own place on Omega) he had made a special arrangement for her to import the finest Canadian Whiskey. Aria had driven a hard bargain and he had driven an even harder…  
“Urgh…” he choked on the drink he had mistakenly taken for his own.  
While he coughed up a lung, a human female lay hunched over the bar, paralytic with laughter.  
“Why on God’s green earth, would you drink that Krogan swill?” he sputtered at her.  
Her amused gold eyes lifted to meet his and he stopped breathing. She grinned broadly, licking her top lip before she replied, “Well… I have just returned from a rather harrowing mission in which I had to kill a lot of naughty people. I had to wash away my sins with something. What better than the cheapest ethanol on the Citadel? Cheap and guaranteed to get my pissed!”  
He eyed her wearily as she took a long sip of the clear liquid. He picked up his own drink and tried to cleanse his palate.  
“So… a mission hey? You Alliance?” he asked  
“Indeed, I am. But let’s not talk about me right now…. I would like to get to know a bit more about you…” she slipped her hand onto knee and waggled her eyebrows suggestively at him.  
He coughed awkwardly. She was very attractive but also very drunk. “I’m impressed that you aren’t slurring your words… I’m sorry, I haven’t asked your name? I am Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko of the Alliance Navy. Your servant ma’am.”  
She stared at his outstretched hand with a bemused expression on her face. When she finally gripped it, she squeezed it so tight that he thought he could feel the bones rubbing together, “Commander Reevka Shepard. Alliance Navy. Tell me, Lieutenant, do you like your shoes?”  
Before he could answer, she leaned over and vomited all over them.  
“Alright Commander, I think you have had enough for tonight. Let me take you home.” He said as he tried to lift her prone body. After a minute of struggling he sighed and pulled her over his shoulder hoping she didn’t vomit down his back. With this hand gripped firmly around her thighs, he took one last swig of his whiskey, threw some credits down and walked out of Purgatory with Liara’s erstwhile love interest. 

Shepard’s head felt as if it had been used in a game of Claw Ball. She listened to the pulsing of what she could only imagine was her brain as she took stock of the rest of her body. She was naked but covered by a sheet. The bed was too soft to be her own. She didn’t sense anyone in the room let alone the bed. She let out a relieved sigh, maybe her walk of shame wouldn’t be too shameful. She didn’t feel as if she had broken any bones but her stomach was growling something awful.  
She sat up slowly and took in the room; bare minimum; bed, closet and armchair. A lone book lay on the table. Gathering the sheet around herself, she looked about for her clothes. None to be found so far. Fine, she would just raid the closet. Dressed in fatigues that were made for a giant, she stepped out of the bedroom to an equally bare living room. A man stood in the open plan kitchen.  
“Oh my soul, please tell me that is real bacon you are frying!” she was practically salivating as she walked up to the counter. The man grinned up at her and nodded over to a place setting at the kitchen island. Awkwardness aside, she sat down readily and shook the napkin out and placed it over her lap.  
“So… Uh… we didn’t… you know… did we?” she asked while she watched the man dish the food of gods onto her plate. He chuckled and winked at her. This was not good. She wasn’t a prude or anything but she certainly didn’t hook up with strange men and not remember their names. What had happened last night?  
The man sat down next to her and tucked into his own food. Shrugging at his lack of an answer, she started shoving bacon into her mouth.  
“Oooohhhh, this is the best damn thing that I have ever tasted in my life!” she crooned as her eyes rolled back in her head.  
“That’s not what you said last night commander…”  
Her eyes popped open in shock and she stared at him with her mouth agape. Recovering quickly, she quipped, “He talks!”  
The man chuckled, “what exactly do you remember from last night?”  
“Uh… well, I arrived on the Citadel and told Joker not to break any bones while I was on shore leave and then I bought myself a hamster and then…. I think I went to Purgatory but I can’t be sure…”  
“Do you even remember my name Commander Shepard?” he asked with a sly grin.  
“Of course I do. It’s… Ma… Bren… Shel… Jo… you could step in anytime here.” She laughed  
“Lieutenant Alenko.” He finally helped.  
“Well, Lieutenant Alenko, what exactly caused me to end up here?”  
“Commander, it is funny you should ask because I asked myself that a million time last night while trying to clean up your vomit and getting you to keep your clothes on…”  
She groaned into her hands at what she could only imagine was a pretty disastrous evening for Alenko. “Did we have sex?” she asked, her voice barely audible.  
When no reply was forthcoming, she glanced over at him. His face was mottled red from the effort it was clearly taking him not to laugh.  
“No, Commander, we did not have sex but not for your lack of trying. I do believe there was a point where you grabbed me by the balls and told me you could teach me to fish. I don’t even want to know what you meant by that!”  
She giggled at the silliness of the situation that she found herself in. “So if we didn’t have sex, I guess I took my own clothes off and got into your bed?”  
He nodded sagely as he forked more bacon into his mouth. “In fact, you were quite well behaved after I put you in the shower. How exactly did you get that scar down your back?”  
She nudged him playfully, “I don’t have a scar on my back but I do have some in other places if you would like to see.”  
Alenko’s hooded lids told her that she was playing with fire. “Thank you for breakfast Alenko. I should get going. Once I return to the Normandy, I shall have you things dry cleaned and sent straight back to you. Thank you for not taking advantage of me last night. Enjoy your day.” He saluted her as she practically ran to the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaiden joins the Normandy and it gets awkward.

Just as she said, his clothes were returned to him within the day and they had been dry cleaned. She had also left behind a note inviting him to join her crew on the Normandy. He would have to think that one over for a bit.   
He decided to do a bit of research on the commander and was fairly surprised by her track record. Even more surprising, she was currently under consideration for Spectre status. She could possibly be the first human to receive that honour! Perhaps he would take her up on that offer after all. He flicked his omnitool to life and sent her a voice message telling her that he would be glad to join her aboard the SSV Normandy.   
He got a text message back almost instantly.

SSVN_COM_R_SHEPARD: GREAT! WILL HAVE TO ENDURE QUALITY CONTROL, HOWEVER. MEET AT BATTLE SIMULATOR ON SILVERSUN STRIP AT 19h00. DON’T BE LATE.   
He frowned at the message. Quality control? What did she mean by that? Surely she could delve into his records and see his history. Did she not think he would be good enough? If she did think so, why would she bother offering him a place onboard? The feeling of irritation grew and he wasn’t sure he quite admired her heavy handedness. 

She was difficult to miss, even in the crowd. Her long red hair had been pulled back into a severe bun but still shone under the multiple neon lights of the strip. Her skin shined ethereally compared to others darker, dulled skins of the Batarians and Turians around her. She stood overlooking part of the citadel, and he quite admired the way she filled her suit. Despite his irritation in her lack of confidence in him, he felt quite excited to be going into virtual battle with the commander. She might want to test his abilities but he had also decided to test hers along the way; to see if they would work well together.   
“Hey Shepard. Ready to see what I can do?” he asked as he approached.   
She smiled wide, putting her hand out to grip his in a firm handshake, “Good to see you Alenko. Sorry to put you on the spot like this. Don’t be offended, I do this to all of my recruits. I just want to see how we work in the field together, better you know, then to find an incompatibility when live ammunition is headed our way. Also, I want a chance to check out your L2 implants. I bet they are going to add a certain ass kicking component to my team!”   
Kaiden froze at the mention of his implants, “Listen, Commander, if my implants are going to be a problem… I have them under control and they have yet to cause any damage to myself or anyone around me, by accident anyway. If you are worried about my competency, I can assure-“  
“Woah, whoa, slow down there Lieutenant. I have no problem with your implants. I have never really met many humans with L2 implants and so I thought this would be a great opportunity to see them in action. I do not doubt your abilities. Believe me, I looked you up and I know that you can handle yourself.” She knocked him in the shoulder, “Now if we are done deliberating, let’s go kick some ass.” And like that, she was gone.   
“Welcome to Armax Arsenal Arena.”  
A feminine voice greeted them as they entered the complex. Shepard sailed right past the ticket counters. She had received a lifetime membership which included free access. She waved Alenko away from the stalls and shooed him up the stairs.   
“Alright soldier, what will it be? Do you feel like fighting the Geth or Cerberus soldiers? I am sure I could pull some string and get some Krogan involved if you feel like more of a challenge?” she asked.  
“Let’s start out small and then build up to Krogan,” he grinned, “Perhaps we should start with Cerberus in the Blasteroid map?”  
“Ah, starting really small I see…” she snickered as she inputs the details. He grabbed her hand and whispered, “Alright, bring on the Krogan.”  
“That’s more like it!”   
They suited up and she couldn’t help but admire the way he strapped his guns to his back. He moved with such fluidity as if he knew how to handle anything with a heat sink. Had she really just gone there? Was she sexualizing a potential recruit? “Get your head in the game Shepard.” She admonished herself.   
“The next match will be starting soon. Good Luck to the competitors”   
“Ladies and gentlemen. Its combat night in the Armax Arsenal Arena!”   
“Ready or not, here we come” Shepard screamed at their imaginary foes.   
“Five.”  
“Four.”  
“Three.”  
“Two.”  
“One.”  
“Round one.”  
Alenko ran ahead of her and down the bridge. He crouched behind a wall and took aim at the head of the first combatant. Within 30 seconds, he had taken out 5 of the targets. She shook her head and started scoping. She got one in the head but true to form, the Krogan stayed on his feet. She jumped out of hiding and used her biotics to throw him back. Alenko went for the kill and shot the Krogan in the head, heart, and groin. She gave him a high five and ran along the walkway. She ran for the bonus.   
“Round 2.”   
“Show me what those L2’s can do Alenko!”   
He was a thing of beauty as he ran here and there, shooting imaginary Krogan. Shepard thought about all the possibilities of having someone like him on her crew could provide. Hell, if he could learn to Reave they would be made. They continued through the course and eventually concluded with an amazing 6127 points, her highest ever. She beamed at him as he took his helmet off.   
“Alenko, you are going to be just fine! Welcome aboard the SSV Normandy!”  
Kaiden had just finished moving into his new bunk upon the Normandy. He looked around at the rows upon rows of bunks that would soon house his fellow ship mates. Shepard had given him the grand tour of her ship. He could tell that she was very proud of the beauty and her affection for her ship softened the hard features of her face. He had introduced her to the other member of the crew who would be taking part in missions. The most noteworthy of the introductions was a Garrus Vakarian, former C Sec officer, Turian of course, who seemed to have a rather large soft spot for Shepard. The Turians eyes had followed Shepard as she had moved around the small conference room interacting with everyone.   
“So Lieutenant Alenko is it?” a loud female voice caught him off guard. He spun around to see Ashley Williams before him, “Welcome aboard. I hope to become good friends. There aren’t too many humans here so we need to stick together. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against aliens, I just think they should keep to their own ships,” she blushed, “don’t tell Shepard I said that. She’ll tan my hide. Anyway, are you glad to be here?”  
He smiled warily at the young woman. She was very confident and not a little pretty either.  
“I look forward to working with you Lieutenant Williams. I am sure that we will work well together.”  
“So… what do you think of our commander?” there was a look in her eyes that made Kaiden feel nervous. Was it a trap? Should he say something generic?  
“She’s certainly something.” There, she could make what she would of that.  
“Shepard already got you by the balls then has she?” Williams asked without skipping a beat, “Yes, she seems to have this charm about her that nobody can resist. She seems to attract strong men. It makes me wonder if her pussy doesn’t dispense some sort of drug to the people in her life. Don’t tell her I said that either.” She took a deep breath and began to recite what he remembered as one of Shakespeare’s sonnets:  
Thou art as tyrannous, so as thou art,   
As those whose beauties proudly make them cruel;  
For well thou know'st to my dear doting heart  
Thou art the fairest and most precious jewel.  
Yet, in good faith, some say that thee behold,  
Thy face hath not the power to make love groan;  
To say they err I dare not be so bold,  
Although I swear it to myself alone.  
And to be sure that is not false I swear,  
A thousand groans, but thinking on thy face,  
One on another's neck, do witness bear  
Thy black is fairest in my judgment's place.  
In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds,  
And thence this slander, as I think, proceeds.  
“Wow,” he said impressed, “I take it you are a fan of poetry?”  
“Well… not particularly. I just find that others are more able to express my feelings with words so I borrow their expertise. Anyway, it’s getting late and I need my sleep. The commander gets us up at crazy hours. You better get used to it.” She patted him on the shoulder and walked off.   
What a strange woman he thought to himself. He needed a place to recollect as well as to help with the migraine that was coming on. He ducked out of the bunk rooms and headed towards the showers. Thank god for individual stalls. Stripping down quickly, he stepped under the spray of hot water and allowed it to work all the kinks out of his back and neck. His mind started wandering, he thought of what Williams had said about Shepard’s pussy. He had a front row seat to it the other night. He didn’t take advantage because she was clearly very intoxicated but he couldn’t seem to get the image of the commander, lying in his bed naked, rubbing her fingers over the pink suffused area. And with the way his thoughts were going, he was glad to have this relatively private place to work out his… issue.  
He thought about the arena and how Shepard had taken down enemy after enemy. Her own biotic power was something to be valued. She moved with the grace of jungle cat. He wondered if she used her teeth or her nails when engaging in foreplay.   
He gripped his cock in his hand and imagined it was Shepard’s. Would she be wild or tame in bed? Would she be dominant or submissive? He liked Shepard for her ability to surprise him. He would be expecting her to be wild and authoritative but he was betting she would give in to his every whim, would do exactly what he told her to do, taking orders instead of following them. The pace of his hand moved faster as he thought of pushing Shepard onto her knees, gripping her by the hair as he guided her mouth over his cock.   
He leaned his head back as he imagined pushing it down her throat. He would cum in her mouth though, that wasn’t as fun as marking her as his own. He would make her bend over and expose that pretty cluster of ginger locks between her legs. He would lick and finger what the fire guarded. He would taste his commanding officer before shoving himself into her. She would be tight he thought as he increased the pressure on the head of his cock. He would tease her, move slowly inside of her and then faster. He would feed her the tip and then slam into her repeatedly until her pink pussy came around him.   
Then he would fuck her until she screamed his name. Only then would he pull out, flip her over and cum all over her perfect, pert breasts. This image sent him over the top and he felt the kick of his member, felt the tension in his back and shoulders release completely. Opening his eyes he looked straight into the eyes of Garrus Vakarian.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garrus is shocked at what he sees and deliberates telling Shepard about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit of a shorter chapter. I just kind of write what i can think of and when i feel like it should end, it ends. I shall endeavour to write more chapters with more words.

“I… Uh… Well…” Garrus was mortified at what he was witnessing, “I heard some moaning and thought someone had slipped and hurt themselves. I didn’t mean to… I think I’ll just go…” Garrus stumbled back and of the shower room. He couldn’t get the image out of his mind, he couldn’t get the damn sound out of his mind.   
This was going to make things awkward when they officially met. Should he shake the man’s hand? But now he knew what it had been doing and he wasn’t sure he wanted to touch him. Garrus wasn’t a hypocrite or anything, he just couldn’t help but think that every time he saw Kaiden, he would know what his orgasm face looked like- this was not something you needed to know about who you worked with. Garrus rubbed his face and sighed. He should talk to Shepard. Over the past few years, he and Shepard had become very good friends; meeting through a Dr Michel back when he was still with C-Sec.  
He made his presence outside of the commander’s cabin known and awaited a reply. After a few minutes, the door slid open and he walked into the spacious room.  
“You know Shepard one of these days I’m going to have to kick you out of here. You can spend some time in those damned bunk beds and I can stretch out and relax here.”  
“What’s stopping you Garrus?”   
He scratched at his fringe and looked around awkwardly, “I’m not really sure. I’ll be sure to let you know when I have an answer.”   
Shepard laughed and patted the seat next to her. There were two empty glasses on the table and he wondered who the second glass had belonged to. Had the new lieutenant been invited up her to be alone in the room with Shepard. Had what he witnessed in the showers been as a result of lustful behaviour here. Garrus lifted his head and tried to scent the air.   
“Uh, Garrus what on earth are you doing? Does something smell bad? I knew I dropped some cheese!” she banged her fist against her other hand and eyed out the corner of the bed.   
“No, it’s nothing like that at all. I was just smelling. I like the way your lotion smells, that’s all.” Well done Garrus, you like the way her lotion smells. What an incredibly stupid thing to say.  
She smiled at his compliment and seemed completely oblivious to the tension, “So, what can I help you with? Are you here for business or for pleasure?”  
If only she knew. “A bit of both really. I’ve come to catch up and find out about our newest member. I bumped into him in the… dining hall. Didn’t get to say much to him because he looked a little busy and I wanted to come see you. How was your shore leave? Do anything interesting”   
“Well, not exactly. I went to celebrate our victory on Bekke, tossed back a few shots of Ryncol. That’s actually where I met Kaiden. The next day I looked him up and he has quite an impressive service record. He has an L2 implant and was part of the BAat program under a Commander Vyrnnus.”   
“Poor SOB,” Garrus groaned, “I’ve heard of him. He played a role in the First Contact War. I hear he wasn’t overly fond of humans.”  
“Yes, I heard that too. Alenko is the one who killed him. It was treated as an accident and the program was shut down. I’m not worried about him being a crazy murder if you are worried. He seems like a genuinely nice person, a hard worker if we go by his records. I think he will be a valuable addition to the team. Do you not like him Garrus?”  
“It’s nothing like that Shepard, I was just curious as to why you brought him on. Now you have answered my questions, I find my doubts about the human dwindling.” He flared his mandibles at her in his approximation of a smile. “Now that the business aspect of the conversation is over… I think you owe me a Vid. Didn’t you say you needed to educate my on early 21st century movies? Why not start now?”  
Shepard laughed and threw a pillow at Garrus, “Oh alright then. Let me show you my most favourite movie in the entire galaxy.” She fiddled around on her omnitool and after a second, twinkling music played around him. The scene opened with a sign upon which was written, “Privet Drive”. Some flying creature moved away and he was met with an old human who appeared to be stealing light.   
“I should have known you would be here, Professor McGonagall.” The old man on the screen said.   
Shepard sighed with content and curled up in her corner of the couch. “I love Harry Potter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this work. Mass Effect characters are owned by Bioware and the Harry Potter Franchise is owned by JK Rowling. This work is my own and my own ideas.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaiden gets over the shock of his encounter with Garrus and decides to learn as much as he can about Shepard from her crew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm using the Normandy layout from Mass Effect 3 simply because I prefer the way it was set out. EDI however, has not been installed yet.

“I… Uh… Well…” The Turian stammered and Kaiden thought of every possible thing he would rather be doing at this very moment. “I heard some moaning and thought someone had slipped and hurt themselves. I didn’t mean to… I think I’ll just go…”  
“Oh. My. Implants.” Kaiden muttered under his breath as the Turian back out of the room. He was absolutely mortified and his thudding heart seemed to be telling his cock that something exciting was going on because it would not go down despite the fact that he has been caught red handed. He tried to ignore it as he splashed water onto the wall to wash away the evidence of his lust for the commander. He hurriedly performed the task of cleansing his body.   
Once dressed, Kaiden wrapped his pride in an enormous, albeit imaginary, mass effect field and strode out of the shower room fully expecting to be confronted by Vakarian. The Turian was nowhere to be seen, allowing Kaiden to be overwhelmed by his apparent good luck. Oh the irony. Granted, he wouldn’t want to hang around if he made eye contact with an ejaculating man you had only just met. Kaiden wondered whether he should confront the man…uh… alien, or just act as if nothing had happened. To be fair, the Turian was trying to be helpful but it was his own fault that he had seen what he had seen. He shouldn’t make a habit of bursting into shower stalls without first asking if everything was okay. Yes, it was the Turians own fault and he had no reason to be ashamed. Didn’t Turians have open sexual relationship aboard their vessels? Exactly. He would just carry on with life and pretend he wasn’t deeply embarrassed by being caught masturbating about Commander Shepard.   
The ship was oddly quiet. He supposed it was because the Normandy crew were still on shore leave and may have their own apartments on the Citadel. Kaiden retired to his bunk in the crew’s quarters. Once his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.   
The next morning, Kaiden woke feeling refreshed and ready for active duty. Today the Normandy would be leaving for a new mission he wasn’t sure what yet but he dressed in a hurry. God, he felt like a five year old on Christmas day. He chuckled as he remembered the many year spent with family around a Christmas tree. He never failed to go back to earth around that time to celebrate with his family. He imagined getting to take Shepard home. He was sure that his father would love the strong woman, being a military man himself. His mother was a wild card though. No one ever seemed to be good for her son but he thought that she would appreciate the Commander’s personality and sense of humour and come around to the fact that she would make him happy.   
Lost in thought, Kaiden hummed his way into the elevator and up to the CIC. The commander herself was standing on the bridge talking to her pilot. Kaiden actually knew Joker from their time spent together aboard another vessel captained by Captain Anderson. He liked the pilot although found him to very paranoid; he was always telling Kaiden about one conspiracy theory or other.   
“Good to see you again Alenko. Joker smiled up at him but didn’t offer a hand in the customary earth greeting. Joker had a bone disease which made them very brittle and prone to breakage. He would risk his hands for the world without Jokers hands, the Normandy wouldn’t leave the docking station.   
“And how is the Alliance’s best pilot doing?”  
“Ah, couldn’t complain. Although, I would appreciate it if the Commander told me why we were going to Noveria. The last I heard, there were a few labs there that have gone silent. Rumours of Rachni attacks I would rather chew off my arm than have to deal with the Rachni.”  
“For the last time Joker, there are no Rachni on Noveria. Just chill your guava.”  
“Chill my guava? Shepard, how do you come up with this stuff? Anyway, my ‘guava’ as you call it, is plenty chill. It’s so chill in fact, it doesn’t need to go anywhere near Noveria for fear of falling off.”  
Shepard rolled her eyes, “Just set course for Noveria Joker. We are leaving in an hour whether you like it or not. Make sure everyone is aboard before you leave. I ensure Traynor sends an alert too.”  
She rubbed her neck and rolled her shoulders before looking over at Kaiden, “I hope you slept well last night, because you won’t be sleeping for some time. There have been some reports of cargo going missing on Noveria and we’ve been asked to check it out. But, as you’ll soon find with me, most of the time, things don’t appear to be what they seem. We expect some naughty Batarian smugglers and then BOOM, we are dealing with a shipping of human slaves. Anyway… I’m hoping this time is the exception.” Her eyes slid away from his as she said this and he got the feeling that she wasn’t saying everything and instead was trying to give him a clue as to what was really going on. Were they in fact going to be saving a shipment of slaves?   
“Commander? Are you sure this is just a routine check? I thought the Normandy was a secret weapon of the Alliance. This seems a bit too easy for a ship and crew of this calibre?” Kaiden hopped he wasn’t pushing his luck with his question.   
“To be perfectly honest with you Lieutenant, I’m not altogether sure what is going on. I guess we will see when we arrive. Now, if you could excuse me, I think I need to go to the med bay my neck is hurting an awful lot.”  
“See you around Commander.” He smiled at her as she headed to the elevator. “So, Joker. How long have you been with Commander Shepard?”  
“About 3 years now. She’s pretty awesome. She doesn’t try to get in the way of how I fly the ship like other captains might. I really appreciate that you know? But, she cannot dance to save her life. It’s very embarrassing to go to any club with her.”  
“I didn’t know that you danced Joker,” Kaiden said with a sly smile.   
“Hardey har, har. I don’t dance but if I did, I bet I would be 1 trillion times better than Shepard. Hey, she’s very enthusiastic but she has no rhythm.”  
“I’ve seen her fight though and she moves with grace. Are you sure you aren’t just imagining things?” He was very confused.   
“Oh, she knows how to move when she fights. I guess you could say her dancing is a fight with the music, and the other dancers, and her dignity.” she guffawed.   
Kaiden thought of the old human adage, “The way a person dances, is the way they make love.” If what Joker was saying was true, he wondered if the Commander would be good in bed. He shook his head at the very horrible thought, what was getting into him? He had never thought of himself as a jerk but the thoughts swirling around in his head had him evaluating that idea.   
He nodded at Joker and thought he would clear his head with another tour of the ship. He pressed the button for the cargo hold and waited patiently for the elevator to take him down. He was not expecting to see a pair of legs peeking out from under the Mako. Was there only one Turian on this ship? Surely there had to be more than just one Turian. He stabbed at the CIC button violently, trying to get the doors to close before the Turian noticed his presence.   
“Ah, do you need some help with the elevator Lieutenant Alenko?” a flanging voice asked.   
“No, I’m quite alright thanks. I think I pressed the wrong button. I had meant to go to engineering to see the drive core. My mistake. Carry on.”  
Garrus subharmonics belied his amusement despite the fact that he kept his face neutral.   
“Before you go to engineering Lieutenant, I would like to apologise for last night’s incident. I should have thought to ask if everything was alright before yanking open the stall door. It was very careless of me.” He cleared his throat and puffed out his chest in what was either pride or embarrassment, “I, uh, on Turian ships… Turians are apex predators and when we are confined over long periods of time, we need to… blow off some steam. Sometimes it’s sparring, other times is of a more sexual nature The point I’m trying to make is that you shouldn’t be embarrassed about last night. If you ever need to relax, you can always come see me. Shepard and I do it all the time.”   
Kaiden’s mouth fell agape at the Turian’s proposition. Was he offering to have sex with him? He had never… with a Turian. “What. The. Actual. Fuck.” He thought to himself.   
“Wait… that didn’t come out as expected. What I meant is that, if you need to spar or go out for a drink, I can help you out.” Garrus explained awkwardly, his neck was turning a very bright shade of blue and he was pretty sure that his own neck was beetroot red.   
“Thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it.” Awkwardness aside, Garrus was a pretty cool guy. He held out his hand to shake Garrus and after a second of confusion, Garrus gripped it and shook it side to side.   
Kaiden laughed at his new friend and tried to ignore the fact that Garrus had not specified the nature of his steam blowing with Shepard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please feel free to leave any comments. I aim to improve my writing so please hit me up with any suggestions.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shepard, Garrus and Kaiden land on Noveria ready to be brief on their latest mission. Garrus finds out about Kaiden's crush which forces him to examine his own feelings.

“Commander, we have arrived on Noveria, docked at Port Hanshan. The powers that be have requested that all weapons remain aboard the ship. “ Joker stifled a laugh at this. Shepard rolled her eyes and slid her N7 Hurricane into its holster. 

“Yeah, okay. Sure, no weapons.” She replied looking over the members of her slowly growing squad. “Garrus and Alenko, with me. Williams, be on standby.” 

“Commander, surely if there has been a request for no weapons to be on our person, surely it would be a sign of good faith to follow the request,” Kaiden asked nervously.   
Garrus’ mandibles fluttered nervously as Shepard snapped, “Alenko, as your superior officer I’m telling you to shut the fuck up. We never surrender our weapons. There is absolutely no reason that I can think of that would cause me to follow through with that request. If they wanted me to breast feed an infant I would still keep my gun on me.”

They made their way into the airlock and Shepard spun around and looked Alenko straight in the eye, the only way she knew how to show dominance without a physical altercation and said, “And don’t ever question my orders again.”

She held eye contact for another 5 seconds and then exited the ship into the frozen tundra that was Noveria. An elevator door opened at their approach and they made their way down to the security checkpoint.

“Stop right there.” A woman with dark hair and equally dark eyes aims her weapon at Shepard’s head. She grins but stops anyway. How hilarious. Did this woman really think she had a chance against three heavily armed people… aliens… peliens? She didn’t make a move for her weapon just yet though. She herself had been underestimated too many times before and she had learned that you couldn’t always judge a tiny woman by her size. 

“Good day. I’m Commander Shepard of the Alliance Vessel SSV Normandy. I’m here on official Alliance business which requires me to carry my weapons at all times.” She gave the woman a big smile that exposed most of her teeth. Other races saw it as a threat, not because she had big scary teeth but because showing one's teeth was a sign of aggression. Luckily this woman was human and so she would understand that Shepard meant to broker a treaty of sorts between the two. However, the human continued to aim her gun at Shepard. Shepard also couldn’t help notice the red dots buzzing around her chest. She turned her head to look at Garrus and saw that he too had a swarm of red dots on his chest. She didn’t have to look at Alenko to know that the same was true for him. 

“Commander Shepard, I am Maeko Matsuo, Head of security for Port Hanshan. I’m afraid we cannot allow you to enter the premises with any sort of weapon, no matter who you are working for. Weapons are a threat to those we swear to protect and we will not allow an unknown to waltz around the port whilst armed. I’m afraid I’m going to have to-“

She was interrupted by a voice over the intercom, “Captain Matsuo, let them pass. I have requested their presence here. Please allow them entrance, I shall send Kassandra to escort them to me.”

Maeko was visibly fuming but lowered her gun all the same. She didn’t say a word to Shepard, only moved out of the way to the checkpoint. 

Administrator Anoleis was a sketchy looking Salarian whose eyes constantly moved from Shepard to Garrus to Alenko. His speech was extraordinarily faster than most of his kind and Shepard was pretty sure that he was up to something. 

“Thank you for coming some promptly Commander Shepard. Hadn’t expected you for days. Most pleased. Didn’t expect squad members. Highly sensitive information you understand. My job to protect the interests of the investors who fund research. Part of my job to secure status for Salarian species.”

“Well Administrator, you did call us to help and I don’t usually work alone. Will the presence of my partners be a problem?” Shepard asked almost politely trying to hide the irritation in her voice. 

“Requested you because of history with Batarian species. Makes sense. Smugglers have been getting through defences and moving undesirable products onto Noveria. Some product a competition for investor. Not officially Alliance. Can’t say. Must get Batarian off world without media coverage. Heard you were under considerations to become a Spectre. Most suitable for the job. Other member’s fine. Kassandra will provide full briefing. Much work to be done. Thank you, Commander.” 

Kassandra explained that Noveria was funded by a number of anonymous companies who in turn, were able to conduct certain types of experiments that would be otherwise frowned upon in any other part of the galaxy. She was unsure of the Alliances interest in the planet but she did know that Anoleis was concerned about the items being smuggled onto the planet. She didn’t go into details but Shepard assumed that whatever it was, it was bad for business. 

“Anyway, you are here to deal with the Batarian problem. They have taken over one of the facilities in the mountains, known as Peak 15. As far as we know, the compound had been abandoned by the company a year ago. It was obviously cleared out of any classified information but there may still be valuable equipment that the Batarian can use. We also assume that they have access to the garage of the port. While you deal with the Batarian, I will be looking for the inside agent on this side. Here is your pass for the garage, you can take one of the tanks to make your way up to Peak 15. If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to contact me.” Shepard nodded at the request and began to move away from the woman when Kassandra said, “Oh and Shepard, don’t tell anyone why you are here. You can expect everyone to be hostile. But, only shoot Batarian.” And with that, she left the 3 squad members to themselves. 

“Before we make our way up to the peak, I think we should hash out some details and work out a battle plan. Also, I’m starving and Alenko is looking good enough to eat. Garrus, you must be missing actual dextro food. Come on, I think there is some sort of accommodation around here.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The three squad members opted to share a room; a room with 3 separate beds, one of which was specially designed for the Turian body.   
Shepard, who must have felt exhausted, lay down on the bed nearest to the door and fell asleep instantly. Garrus shared an amused glance with Kaiden and made a sweep of the room. 

“This is very uncharacteristic of Shepard. She normally tears a place apart to ensure there are no bombs or bugs waiting to kill her. She must be getting old.” Garrus chuckled under his breath as he stared fondly at his commander. She was a thing of beauty. The best thing about her was that she didn’t even realise how beautiful she was. He didn’t have a fetish for humans, they were too squishy, too vulnerable. But despite those flaws in her genetics, Shepard was the finest specimen of human he had ever seen.   
Kaiden cleared his throat awkwardly and Garrus realised he had been staring at Shepard longer than was considered normal. 

“Uh, Sorry about that. I was lost in thought about… eating real food again I’m so sick of that food paste they serve on the Normandy. I guess, as the only dextro alien aboard, my food isn’t really a priority.”

“Garrus, I hope I’m not being too forward… Are you and Shepard together?”  
Garrus froze at the question. His mind was racing. What did he say? His sub-harmonics were going crazy. He tried to regain his calm enough to answer Kaiden’s question. 

“Uh… well… no. Why do you ask?”

“The way you two interact, it’s very intimate. Something I’ve only ever seen between lovers really. I was just wondering because… well… I was hoping to begin courting Shepard. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t stepping on any toes.” He gave Garrus a relieved smile and it took everything in him to stop from staking his claim on the female. A growl slipped his lips and he said, “I thought humans didn’t believe in fraternisation?”

Kaiden gave him a confused look, “Well, we do. But there is something about her and the way she has a certain disregard for the official rules. I think that we would be able to separate our love lives from our work lives. “Kaiden shrugged as he looked over at Shepard. 

It took every ounce of control for Garrus not to pick Shepard up and pierce her neck, marking her, claiming her as his mate. He recognised her as one of the strongest females. Therefore, she would provide excellent offspring… except that their DNA would never mix. That was beside the point, Alenko was pissing all over his territory. He shook his head at the direction his thoughts were taking. Of course, he had his doubts about Shepard’s feelings for him. Shepard had never shown any sexual interest outside of her species and he was sure that despite how close they were, she would want something a little closer to home. He bared his teeth at Kaiden but Kaiden, who had little experience with Turians, mistook it for a smile. 

“Well Kaiden, I think we should wake Shepard and prepare our plan of attack, don’t you?”

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to make any suggestions.


End file.
